Youth Culture and the School

This paper is a replication of a previous study done by Barry Sugarman in British schools, concerning involvement in youth culture and the school orientation of the student.' Sugarman sees adolescence as a time of stress and educational decision making, arguing that there are two dominant adolescent life styles available to the student. Firstly, that of the official 'pupil' role-involving the acceptance of the values and norms held by the school. Secondly, there is the 'teenager' role, which he identifies as 'roughly an inversion of the role'. Sugarman suggests that for many students the school has nothing to offer, and thus the pupil role lacks appeal. These disinterested students subsequently seek, through the teen culture, another means of gratification and status reward. The 'pupil' role, then, is representative of the adult society, and the 'teenager' role represents a youth culture that holds values and norms that are in important ways opposite to those of the adult society.2 Much of Sugarman's work is concerned with the 'teenager' role and related features of the youth culture, and how these derive from lack of adjustment within the school system. He contends that adolescents involved in the youth culture will demonstrate their membership in distinctly characteristic ways

Biology · Developmental psychology · Replication (statistics · Sociology · Youth culture · Diverse Education Studies and Reforms · Early Childhood Education and Development · Education Systems and Policy · Psychology · Virology

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